Heart of My Machine
by Jaxzyne
Summary: Funny thing about being quirkless, everyone underestimates you. So you blow 'em away and knock their egos out of the water. Then what do you get? People clamoring, "She cheated", "I'm still better", and even the occasional "So what?" So I, Izumi Midoriya hereby declare my intent. All you assholes who looked down on us? It's time for a wakeup call, and I'm here to ring the bell.
1. Chapter 1

Boku no Hero Academia owned by Kohei Horikoshi. Not Mine.

* * *

The U.A entrance competition was three days away and her DES-002 power suit couldn't have been more ready. Combat matrices were primed. Cannons had been disassembled and cleaned then reassembled. Stronghold program was functional but needed some minor adjustments to account for additional human presence. And finally, her pride and joy, the omni driver was ready.

"Izumi, I know you're sure about this. But…." She looked over at her friend in concern. Eyes tired from long nights watching her stared back intensely. Taking a moment to assess herself she finally realized how tired she was, weariness seeping in like a blanket. Heaving out a heavy sigh she plopped next to him and leaned forward. Arms bounced on legs. Legs bounced on concrete.

He gave her a hug and she held onto him for assurance that they were doing the right thing, that this was the only way forward. Hulking metal stood stock still in front of them, sunrise flinging off of its visor. Power radiated from it in pulsing waves, an aura that told of how much work was put into it.

"Were doing the right thing, Right?" Words whispered from her bowed dirty head.

He hummed, "Yeah, we are." He tapped her shoulder, "Ain't no one else gonna do it."

Resolute eyes looked up at the mechanical Atlas upon which they would begin their message. A symbol to all those in the world, playing a game of cops and robbers that they were still here. That they would not be victims anymore, sheep to the slaughter. Izumi stood and connected her artificial arm interface with her creation and one mind saw out of two bodies. She lifted a hand and so too did her first ray of hope.

"Mishuru," she looked back at him, greasy, filthy, haggard, but never more alive. "There's no going back."

He snorted, "Bit late for that."

Looking back at her creation she nodded and it mirrored her.

"Thought so."

* * *

Everyone gave her a clear berth when she entered the school grounds. DES-002 thundering along with her inside of it nearly two heads taller than the tallest boy there, some glasses wearing prude. They had tried stopping her but she had shown her application and claimed the machine was a life support vessel. They couldn't exactly dispute it seeing, as she had the documents for that too. She did have to leave behind the Gatling Gun though, pity. Though they didn't see the cannons compacted within, not a pity at all.

As soon as Present Mic had finished speaking, she had directed her robot to wait in front of Gate A. Students milled about around her, uncertain if they should try and get around her or just wait. Izuku was running diagnostics when Mr. Stick-up-his-ass had walked up to her.

"Excuse me. Excuse me. Excuse me!"

She turned the robot around and had her arm interface send, "What?". The speaker within the helmet speaking it out for her, resulting in a warped and deep "**What?"** She turned the torso 180 degrees around to face him and the tall boy stepped back to avoid the arms. He pushed his glasses up, "You are currently blocking the entrance into the exam. I am sure we all would appreciate it if you made some room, it's only fair."

Glancing around with her external cameras Izumi processed his requests and hummed. It was reasonable. Activating her omni wheels she whirled to the side, leaving enough for him and a few other students to slip in beside her bot. He pushed his glasses up, "I'm afraid you'll need to move back more, the rules clearly state that- "

"**The rules also clearly state that should any contestant harass another they shall be immediately disqualified, as specified under E.Q.R Code 16.3 Section A." **Her text to voice system quickly trouncing whatever the boy had to say.

Turning around in her suit she ignored his indignant sputters that he would never harass somebody she booted up her sensors and cursed, the power for the city inside the walls was running now. Unfortunately, she had forgotten to turn off her speakers and everybody stepped back at the distorted "**Fuck!"** that came out of her. She gestured to the people beside her in an attempt to be friendly, "**Get ready they're about to start."**

"YOU GUYS THOUGHT THERE'D BE A COUNTDOWN!? PLUS ULTRA!" Present Mic yelled over the speakers surrounding the simulation city.

The doors opened with an unceremonious bang and Izumi was the first one out in her mech, everyone being eager to let her go first so they wouldn't be run over. Her wheels squealed as she rounded a building corner and grabbed the three-pointer waiting there by the face. Picking it up she slammed it into ground and sped up, firing at any other bots she passed using the non-lethal gun she had liberated from the bot she held. Down the street she went and by the time she reached the end the bot she held had its reduced to a flat sheet of metal with circuit poking out. She dropped it and shook her head, pathetic workmanship.

* * *

"We have a lot of good contestants this year, plenty with strong enough quirks for the 1-A and 1-B."

All Might nodded along with Khan as they watched the students from Gate B wreck the bots set out before them, particularly the son of Endeavor and one child who made explosions. There were a few others who stuck out, a girl who could make a jungle of vines from her hair, one who altered gravity, a boy who could become the equivalent of bigfoot on steroids. Those were only a few of the ones that stuck out to him. That was until a commotion over by the screens for Gate A caught his attention. Walking over he caught the tail end of the conversation between Midnight and Power Loader.

"...can't be allowed, sure some kids are destructive but this is too far."

"Nowhere in the rules does it say that they can't bring their own tools, I've already checked."

The R-rated heroine frowned at him, "That's not a tool, it's a weapon of mass destruction that could kill the other contestants if something goes wrong."

All Might finally managed to get through the crowd of heroes that had surrounded the screens to see what the problem was when he was instantly drawn to the subject in question. His eyes widened; someone had a quirk that allowed them to make _that? _It was like watching a juggernaut take on ants, rolling over the smaller bots and even raising its legs to stomp on them. Whatever it couldn't crush it merely tore to pieces or crushed in an emotionless rage. Occasionally what seemed to be some sort of giant sharp piece of metal, not a sword or knife, came out of its arms and stabbed into exposed circuitry between plating. All Might checked the scoreboard; she was in second place in points from robots alone.

He laughed a giant booming laugh as he watched her backhand a two-pointer, "What's their quirk, the one in the robot?"

Cementoss walked over with Nezu, the principal of U.A on his shoulder. The little animal hybrid easily said, "She doesn't have a quirk." Said by him as if he was discussing the weather. The silence that followed was palpable. It was actually Cementoss who broke it by looking over to the rodent on his shoulder, "Please explain."

The small rat bear mouse thing calmly sipped its tea before chuckling, "Call her a personal investment of mine. I found her in Musutafu slums, a gem in the rough I believe the saying is."

Power Loader frowned, "Where did she get the mech sit?"

Nezu grinned, "Why she made it of course."

The shocked expressions around him disappointed him slightly but he moved on. "Come now, your boss is a talking animal with enough species in him to be a new one."

"It's impossible, a quirkless person can't do what she's doing." It was Nemuri who had spoken up not in anger, but in confusion.

Nezu laughed.

"Anything is possible."

* * *

Izumi always felt alive in these moments, powerful and peerless. Her junk knife carved through another bot's leg and she used the dismembered robo limb to beat the head of it to a pulp. Picking up the metal corpse she tossed it into a line of bots that were lining up behind her and powered over. Her fist shoved upwards into the chest cavity of the biggest one before tossing it through a fake shop window. Her front right leg raised up before grinding a bot in half with its wheels. The eyes dimmed before she stomped the rest of the way through. Picking up the last bot, pinned under the first she had thrown, Izumi lifted it by the shoulder and left leg. Pulling, servos and motors whirring and roaring, she pulled it apart in a shower of oily robot gore.

Definitely a good day for her so far.

"Everybody Run!"

Contestants ran past her and she looked behind her to see why.

Then up.

And up.

Up further.

Almost.

Ah.

There was its head.

Rolling forward she stopped when she saw the girl, "Help!"

Brown haired, alone. She was trapped under rubble feebly clawing for anybody to help her. But the other students ran past her, unwilling to put themselves further in the line of fire. Her heart turned cold. _Cowards, they weren't heroes._

"_Izumi, run!"_

She couldn't do anything.

"_Mommy loves you sweetie."_

"_She's seen too much, kill her."_

_Blood._

_Red._

_Hair._

_Green._

_Heroes._

…

_Killers._

Izumi surged forward and stopped the foot on its descent to crush the now sobbing girl. Fingers raw and nails broken. Izumi locked down her omni legs and the entire frame creaked as it held up the weight of the 0-pointer. Disengaging from her capsule she unlocked her arm before ejecting out the back. Dusty air and choked sobs greeted her. Scrambling over to the girls side she grunted out, "What's your quirk."

The girl hadn't answered her and was just watching, hope and disbelief warring together in her eyes.

The back-left leg of DES-002 cracked and the robot on top shifted as more weight was put down. Luckily it was only trying to complete a walking sequence or else they'd be dead already. Izumi looked back at the girl and this time yelled, "What's your quirk?!" The girl stammered out, "I-I make things w-weightless."

Izumi quickly gestured to the bigger ones covering the top of the pile which could crush the girl's legs easily, "Get those ones and I'll shove 'em off!" The gears were grinding behind her and Izumi heard more than one engine sputter in protest before she and the girl managed to get the last rock off. Legs mostly fine the brown-haired girl stood and hobbled out of the pit with Izumi supporting her by the shoulder. She set her down by the nearest shop, "Wait here, I'll clear this mess away."

The girl grabbed her sleeve, frantic eyes looking at her. "You can't fight that; we have to run!"

Mindful of her cuts and bent nails, Izumi gently pried her hand off before turning too busy thinking on what to do with the bot. Cracking heralded one of DES's legs breaking into two and the robot shifted to hold its weight having had to move to holding the mechanical foot on its shoulders like Atlas. Diving into the pit and painfully ignoring the screaming of the girl she had rescued to come back she reached the hatch on DES's back, still open. Reaching in Izumi pried out her secret weapon before hopping out of the pit.

"Oy, lug nuts!"

The 0-pointer looked down at the voice not screaming and tilted it's head.

"Get the fuck off my bot!"

Aiming at the joints between the foot and the lower leg she fired her grenade launcher and shrapnel exploded outwards as the internal machinery was destroyed. The footless giant stump slid off to the side and the giant waste of metal had to catch onto the buildings to keep it's balance.

"DES! Return Reverse!"

The mech hopped out of the crater before doing a 180 in mid-air as it reversed as fast as it could toward her. Izumi jumped in the air and curled up before being caught perfectly in the capsule through the hatch.

"Fire at frontal coordinates x zero and y 678! Adjust angle for fifty-five degrees compensation!"

DES's head morphed into a cannon and aimed at her specified coordinates.

* * *

Nezu frowned and ordered out their closest heroes as they had mobilized against the unintentionally deployed 0-Pointers, being intended for the third years exam later that month. Someone had ordered them out, and it wasn't them. Luckily, they had regained control over a few and had them in freeze mode, but there some that had been infected with some sort of malignant programming. Fortunately, two out of those four had been disposed of easily, one by the son of Endeavor, Todoroki Shouto he believed his name was, and the explosion boy. The other by All Might himself who had begun rescue efforts immediately afterward.

That left two, one in the middle of the simulation city, the supposed 'hub' from where the saboteurs had gained access to the network. And the other with Izumi, leaning down to the mike he ordered, "All available heroes to sector A-4. The last hostile 0-Pointer is there, both rescue and combat efforts are necessary."

But as he looked at the monitor of Izumi his eyes widened, "Oh dear."

Power Loader looked over, "Another breach principal?"

He shook his head and sighed, "No, I was just lamenting the fact that I had explicitly told Izumi to leave the RPG at her house."

The pro hero only had time to blink before the cameras on Izumi and the Ochaco girl went out.

* * *

"Fire!"

The 0-pointer, still holding onto the buildings with its head between them barely had time to register the illegal weapon its face before the front of its head exploded. The rest of it immediately went slack and Izumi paled considerably at the now several tons of robot about to fall on them. Screaming sounded behind her. She turned and found the brown-haired girl had hobbled down the street some ways away but not far enough. The giant rectangular head about to crush her she turned the wheels and zoomed forward. Right as the head was above them, she grabbed the girl and had DES hunch over her as a shield.

Metal and wires crushed DES's frame against the ground, still remaining curved around her fellow candidate though. It was over in a few seconds, loud and terrifying but for the most part they were fine. They both lay there for a few moments, exhausted.

Izumi, yelling through the slightly open back hatch said, "You see a way out?"

The girl under her stirred before sitting up on her arms slightly so she could look around. Shaking her head, she replied, "I can see some light but it's above us, but if we move it all could come down on us."

Izumi cursed in frustration. Her arm had interfaced with the system again and she didn't like what she saw. The left rear leg of DES had broken off during the crash and two were barely functional while the last one was remarkably fine. Arms were still functional but pinned holding up both itself and the rubble around them. Couldn't use her weapon system, space too small. Sighing she disconnected before leaning back in her capsule. Luckily, they still had power but only for the next few hours. Hopefully a pro would find them by then.

"W-what's your name?"

The green haired girl responded, "Izumi, Izumi Midoriya. Yours?"

"Uraraka Ochaco."

Nodding her head, she closed her eyes.

"Listen, um. I just want to say thank you. You, you saved my life when you could have left. So, thank you."

"Don't mention, just doing what a hero would do."

They sat there in silence for who knows how long before voices came from outside the rubble. "… sure they're here?"

"Of course, I'm sure."

Ochaco immediately started yelling, "Were in here! Help!"

"Shit, Thirteen, middle of the pile."

The air was suddenly filled with a vacuuming noise as the debris in front of them was disassembled on a molecular level and sucked inside of Thirteen. The space themed hero, upon seeing Ochaco waving, shut off his quirk and stepped back for Hound Dog to pull her out. Not having to shield her anymore, Izumi rebooted her systems and had her mech shove its way out from the mountain of rubble.

Her bot stumbled as the right rear leg had to compensate for the weight difference when standing but otherwise it was fine. Not waiting at all she scooped up Ochaco and started the stroll back to Gate A.

"Hey, kid. Where you goin'?"

She turned back and even though her back hatch was open she still spoke through her bot.

"**I will escort Uraraka** **Ochaco** **back to Gate A. There were others in the area so it would be wise if you were unburdened by us in your search for them."**

A skeptical hum from Thirteen and a nod from Hound Dog was all she got before they walked off in search of anymore people in need of help. Turning on her wheels, Izumi began a leisure roll to the Gate as she gently handled Uraraka.

Silence was all there was between them until they reached the Gate and Izumi left Ochaco with some nurses who were handling some injuries with Recovery Girl. The girl reached out for her to thank Izumi but the girl in a robot was surprisingly fast and was out of the crowd before anybody had a chance to even really register her presence.

Inside her now damaged mech Izumi leaned back and let herself smile. Overall a shitshow, but a fun one.

* * *

My first ever fanfic, aiming to continue.


	2. Chapter 2

Boku no Hero Academia owned by Kohei Horikoshi. Not Mine.

* * *

"What the fuck did you do?!"

Her best friend, Mishuru Akasano, looked at her in rage as she hobbled into the workshop under the cover of night. Having hidden at one of their hideouts for the rest of the day, Izumi waited for the sun to go down before making the long walk back to the east slums in Musutafu. She had taken the back alleys that were big enough and any homeless people that saw her already knew her so she wasn't worried about them blabbing. Their abandoned garage was easy enough to find for them. They had based it out of an old out of mechanics shop and was also where they lived. Of course, none of that helped with the fact that DES-002 was a near smoldering wreck by this point.

She wilted a bit as he glowered at her in anger before plugging his shit laptop into the access port within the underside center of the omni-legs to check what could be salvaged. Meanwhile, Izumi hobbled over to the workbench and did a system run down of what was the internal state of her right arm was. Numbers flashed through her pupils once uploaded by her bio-link. Pursing her lips, she sighed in her head, the outside was fine, nothing a few screws and replacement parts couldn't fix.

It was the internal mechanisms that would need fixing the most. Her Force-Multiplier and Shock Absorber were slightly damaged but those were easy enough to replace. Best to do it before they degraded from exposure though. Next up was her built in taser, which unfortunately had had its battery shattered, much more expensive. She wasn't even sure if they sold that model anymore on account of them exploding every now and then. Her heart sank when she got to the last one, her carbon steel arm knife had shattered.

"No, no, no, no."

Quickly she ejected the once exquisite masterpiece and teared up at its state. It had cracked into three pieces and even smaller more small ones. They could have fixed it if it was only two but as it was now only the most experienced forgers and facilities could repair it now.

"All right, so I ran a quick check and the salvageable part-"

Mishuru shut up as soon as he saw what she was hunched over and all the annoyance bled out of him. Sitting down beside her he grimaced in nervousness at her tears, damn he hated sharing feelings or seeing them. Patting her awkwardly on the shoulder he tried to sound reassuring as he said, "We knew it would happen eventually, you've had it for years now. It's a miracle it's even lasted this long." Rubbing awkward circles into her back he started listing off the salvageable parts he could find, knowing she would appreciate the distraction from her broken reminder.

"So, the parts in perfect condition are most of the upper body, minus the shoulder motors. Don't know what the fuck you did but they're so fucked I'm surprised they aren't having little gear babies right now." Standing up he moved to the panel covering the shoulders and armpit while her head turned to track him from where she sat. When he removed them she could see what he meant from where she sat, most of the motors had either melted under the heat, crumpled under the force, or were stripped of all their teeth. "Next is the torso." He took the plating off and set it aside, exposing circuitry and framework along with her pilot capsule which she was curled up in earlier. "The metal plating is fine, just a few dents that can be hammered out. Wiring and framework will need some sprucing up but that's fine as well. The main problem is your capsule."

Walking around to the back he stuck his head in, "Don't know what the hell you did strawberry but the hatch is fucked and so is the glass, gonna take a while to fix that." He prodded at the head. "Head is in surprisingly good shape, kinda shocked considering that's always the part you seem to lose first."

Izumi's sheepish giggle was answer enough.

"Now onto the legs."

Her smile dropped, "I think you mean omni legs."

His glare returned, "I ain't callin' it that and you know it."

Izumi sighed, no one understood the greatness of her baby. But she knew someday, someone out there would.

"Putting it bluntly the left rear leg is scrapped at this point, just metal and wires left. The right rear leg is fixable and so is the front right leg. The front left leg is the only one in good shape. So since I don't know how to fix these legs you made, it's on you. I'll finish the upper body and you get the lower."

Finished with his list for the moment, Mishuru turned back to the capsule to inspect the arm interface she used.

"What the hell?"

Izumi looked at him as he dug around in the side cubby in the capsule.

'Shit.'

Quietly she tried to sneak her way to her room on the second floor after gathering her knife delicately.

"Izumi."

The deathly quiet voice made her foot pause on the staircase. Like a tensed spring she sprung up the stairs as fast as she could before a hand in the collar of her skin tight pilot suit yanked her back down with a strangled "Urk!" Not even making it a quarter of the way up she resigned herself to her fate as his livid eyes pinned her still in his grasp.

"Where is my grenade launcher?"

* * *

Nezu was at most times a jovial but calculating individual. It came with the occupation of being U.A's principal. After all, there were constantly those trying to subvert them and take their students, like other schools, villains, and in most cases their own government. He himself was not ignorant to the actions the government in particular took in order to further their goals. They had made him after all, who knows what else they had done. Such a reason was why he liked to face villains more often, at least they didn't bullshit constantly.

"Any leads Aizawa?"

The tired man across from him looked up with his mouth hidden behind the capture tool around his neck. Red bloodshot eyes gazed out from under unkept messy black tendrils of hair. Shuffling the papers in his hand he sighed and rubbed his eyes. "As far as Power Loader and our techies could get, the person who did it wasn't trying to harm the students actively, rather stirring up whatever they could as a distraction. From the digital track we found there was an indication that they knew what they were looking for. Most of the candidate profiles were compromised and a few of our second years had their information stolen."

Nezu nodded, "So they didn't find what they wanted and tried to cover up whatever or whoever it is they were looking for. Likely used the 0-Pointers to buy time for their hackers seeing as Power Load and myself could have easily stopped it had we not been preoccupied."

All Might, in his Toshinori state, spoke up from where he sat hunched over in the armchair. "So the biggest problem is that we still don't know who or what they were after. We don't even know who it was that perpetrated this act." The symbol of peace was himself rough looking. The earlier rescues and fights had taken their toll because he had already used up his time for One for All.

Nezu could practically see the guilt and exhaustion running off the man. More than one student had been injured by the change in the exam but luckily none had been maimed or killed. Already the various news stations had caught wind, though with the aid of Midnight and Present Mic they had disseminated a story of it being a surprise evaluation during the exam to root any exceptional contestants. And it wasn't entirely untrue.

The principal had watched the footage of Izumi combating the bot and found it exceptional. Not the best, she could have been more precise. Though from what he had heard from Hound Dog and Thirteen, the girl had shielded young Ochaco from a grim demise. With her own body no less. On the other hand, most of the other outlying contestants had astronomical power but very little control or heroic intentions to show for it. Shouto Todoroki has completely neglected the presence of others and more than one was goin to be waking up sick from being encased in ice. Young Katsuki Bakugou was perhaps the worst case though, because where Todoroki hadn't cared about his fellow contestants Bakugou went out of his way to hinder everyone. He had claimed an area as his own as well as the bots inside of it before claiming all of the points and driving off any attempts by others to help with the 0-Pointer. In fact, he wouldn't be surprised if neither knew the other had inadvertently helped the other one taking the back of the bot and the other the front.

Back to the matter at hand though.

He already had an inkling of who had done this, and their reason for it. Fortunately, he had the foresight to suspect it and post guards in his office and move Izumi's files into a private server before printing them and destroying all trace of the digital documents and the server. Unfortunately, it meant that if he was right then he would have to speed up his plans. A less delicate touch was needed which meant more room for errors.

He looked down at the photo of the final 0-Pointer and what seemed to a metallic substance with a liquid form protruding from its cracks. The only connection they had to whoever did this before it had disappeared into a fine mist. After the silver substance had disappeared the 0-Pointer had seemed to self-destruct. This entire thing was his fault, he knew that. It was foolish to think they'd let her go so easily. An error in judgment on his part.

His furry hand tightened on his teacup.

He despised errors.

* * *

"Was the mission a success?"

The kneeling man tensed, "No mistress, we were unable to retrieve the files on your subject, the principal of U.A had them on a separate server we think. We were also unable to find an opportunity to infiltrate his office. He had anticipated it and had stationed guards at all entrances. There was no way to get in unseen."

She sighed in irritation and crossed one leg over the other. "This is your second failure Sting. I ignored the first because the blame wasn't entirely on you." She uncrossed her legs and heels clacked as she stood. Walking to the now trembling figure, she stroked his head in mock sympathy before she leaned over him from behind and whispered into his ear. "Don't give me a reason to issue a third strike Sting, I would hate to lose your services."

Releasing the now named Sting upon his sigh of relief she stalked back to her chair. "You've seen them, right? The ones who fail me too often." At his nod she continued, "While your quirk is useful and a boon at times, you are not irreplaceable."

She leaned back, "Leave, and pray you don't disappoint me again."

As soon as the lanky man scrambled away out of the room she leaned back and lamented her losses. That rodent would undoubtedly know it was them by the end of the week and would likely relay the info to her pet. Dark hair swished as she flipped it over her shoulder in irritation. Standing once again, long legs carried her to her personal quarters and she opened the file on her pet. Rubbing the picture of the green haired and freckled girl she let out a sigh.

Not for the first time she wished she could easily guess where she was. Hell, she didn't even know what city she was in. Only that Nezu had a file on her and had himself taken to hiding her away. Her thoughts drifted to the sheer wonder she had achieved from touching her mind. Quirks were nothing compared to the intelligence behind those green eyes. For those glorious moments she was connected the universe flowed out before her in a cascade of numbers and answers. It was at once both humbling and addictive.

"Miss, your conference with the Hikizo Construction company is ready. They are currently waiting on video feed eight." Said a voice from her shadow.

"Thank you, Gopher. Oh, please inform our mole bug within U.A to lay low for a while. Wouldn't want to lose such a valuable informant so early on." No reply was needed from her most dedicated soldier as her words went through her shadow to his own instantly, an advantage of having such a versatile tool.

Her thoughts whirled with ways to break the CEO of Hikizo Corp. and subsume his position. There was the affair with his daughter's friend, his recent money laundering for some upstarts called the League of Villains, and most enticingly of all, his newborn son. Still in the hospital, she had seen pictures of the barely week-old infant. Accidents happened all the time in childcare, but cooperation never hurt to prevent them.

Other villains scrambled for neighborhoods and movements of social injustices. All for One charged forward at the new age, a relic of the past refusing to sink into obscurity. The heroes supported a dying system. Stain preyed on weak heroes for not fitting into his world. Even minor villains often had a goal in mind, usually pathetic but still.

But herself?

The manicured hand holding the picture let go and put it back into the file.

She wanted the world.

* * *

Izumi searched through their supply of metals and found herself disappointed by their inventory. Carbon steel was way too expensive to just make another knife despite how much she wanted to fix the gift. Utterly exhausted she laid down on her floor mat and felt anxiety bubbling up from within herself over if she would be accepted. It was idiotic, Nezu himself had all but guaranteed her a place in his program. Under their protection that monster couldn't come after her without exposing herself to the world. She had enough dirt to bury both her and herself if it came to it.

Even though it would likely result in more people hunting her in the long run, she would rather that than the hell that would follow if she got her hands on her again. Looking out her window she thought, 'Besides, it's not like I can leave her now.' In the short time she had been here people already looked up to her and she was the unofficial leader of the homeless and quirkless in the area. She wasn't worried at all about them talking about her to outsiders, not out of loyalty or friendship. But because she was necessary to them. Without her they would lose the abandoned apartment building Nezu had given her as one of her conditions. Both for her people and her projects.

But it was only the beginning, no matter who or what was in her way she would expose the world for what it was. Force them to look at themselves and see their rot. Both to save them and make a better world, one where her people, the forgotten and dying, could stand as equals.

Giving into her sleep finally, her last thought before her eyes shut came as she caressed the end of her broken knife.

'Goodnight mom.'

* * *

Best thing for insomnia is to stay awake and keep writing.


End file.
